A Great Honor

 ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

                                     -Luke 11:13

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

                           -James 1:17

I have often struggled with the concept of Gods love. I mean, yes, I know that He loves me, but when people would start saying  (or I would read in the Bible) that God wants to give good gifts to His children I would balk, as I thought about all of the bad things that often befall His people. On Monday as I was pondering this, I had the distinct impression that I should ask God to make His view known to me, so I let a half formed prayer whisper through my mind, before I was needed to go do something else. As, the day went on I completely forgot about this (to my mind) insignificant prayer, until, that is, God answered it! I was listening to Bro. Darvie preach (he is the preacher for our missions revival), about Esther and how God used her to save her people, and then he said that God could have used the magnificent angels or a great blazing signs in the heavens, but He chose instead to use people to work out His plan. It was then that I remembered that little half- formed prayer, and it was then that I knew that everyday, through sunshine and storms, God was giving us the second greatest gift He could ever present (next to salvation): the extreme privilege of being allowed to have a hand in His great and awesome plan! And while I still haven't fully grasped this amazing concept, and will probably have days where I will still balk and wonder, I can always rest in the knowledge that God never does anything on accident, and that He promises to guide us each and every day!

Stepping Heavenward

I have been reading "Stepping Heavenward" by Elisabeth Prentiss for the last couple of days, and I have never been so blessed by a book! Although it was written in the 1800s it is more applicable than even most modern books. It is written in diary format and so many of the emotions of Katy, the main character, so many of the things that she struggles with are things that I have said before. In fact, in the few days before I picked this book I was really struggling with some doubts and some questions and I'm sure that God was smiling as He knew that He was going to use this book to answer every one of those questions.
    I'm probably butchering this, as I can't seem to articulate everything I want to say, but I truly cannot recommend this book enough! In fact I would love to buy everyone of you a copy if I could, but since I can't I'll just tell you that you can buy the book here. I hope that you do buy it and are as blessed as I have been!

The Lord laughs...

³ Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.¹² The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.¹³ The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.
                                        -Psalm 37:3,9-10,12-13


  Today being to tenth anniversary of 9-11, the war on terrorism is on my mind a little more than usual. So, when I read these verses, the 'evildoers' that came to mind were the terrorists. I don't know about you, but I have a really overactive imagination, so when I hear about how the terrorists are infiltrating us from the inside, or anything else along those lines, my mind instantly imagines the worst and I begin making a game plan for how we can stop them. And then I read, verse thirteen of Psalm 37: "The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming". Can you just imagine God sitting in heaven laughing at the arrogance of this -to Him- tiny and insignificant nation, as He pictures the day that He will demolish them? Its almost like one would laugh at a child who is bragging about saving the day with his water gun! My God is greater, stronger, and mightier than anything, or anyone, and He says that the nations are "as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales;"! So who am I to be afraid?

Anne of the Island

   I forgot how much I love the 'Anne of Green Gables' series, until I started reading the abridged version of 'Anne of Green Gables' to Lacey. It inspired me to begin re-reading some of the books that I have, and I have discovered that Anne and I are truly 'kindred spirits'. I'm actually very 'Anneish'  on the inside, and I have always been able to relate so well to Anne's thoughts and feelings, especially in this book as she is growing up and looking back on her life. But, I think the thing that struck me the most, as I was going back through this classic, is the abundance of spiritual wisdom that L.M.M. has tucked so naturally into its pages, unlike alot of modern authors whose spiritual quips seem forced and scripted. One in particular sparked a great deal of thought and reflection, and I wanted to share it with you all. It is one of the few truly tragic parts in the series, but is also very profound.

   Anne sat in a pain that was almost intolerable. She could not tell comforting falsehoods; and all that Ruby said was so horribly true. She was leaving everything she cared for. [Ruby] had laid up her treasures on earth only; she had lived solely for the little things of life -the things that pass- forgetting  the great things that go onward into eternity, bridging the gulf between the two lives and making of death a mere passing from one dwelling to another -from twilight to unclouded day...  Anne walked home very slowly in the moonlight. The evening had changed something for her... When she came she came to the end of one life, it must not be to face the next with the shrinking terror of something wholly different- something for which accoustomed  thought and ideal and aspiration had unfitted her. The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth.
                                          - Anne of the Island